Chapter 4 Making up, Making out, and Getting Some
The first glimpse of the town was six large clouds of black smoke rising over the horizon. Piles of bodies lay haphazardly in piles, covered in orange flames. Just three miles beyond the flames was the small cluster of buildings that constituted for a town.
The town of Edder was actually quite small. Most of the buildings were centered around two main intersecting streets, creating a large cross. Most of the building were made of a combination of clay, stone, and wood. Others had simply been built out of the ruins of the old buildings. Just outside of the cross was a ring of low built houses, connected by dozens of small side roads.
As technology came to the rim, city-size generators had been built in an underground vault beneath the town's center. Several dozen feet beneath the roads power lines ran outward like the roots of some giant evil plant. This began to eliminate the need for each home to manage it's own personal electricity.
Everywhere people were running back and forth building walls of sandbags and cinder blocks topped with M249 SAWs. Trenches were being dug and the dirt transferred to old leather sacks. The slayers picked their way through the men and woman busily building their defenses. The soldiers along with Seras, Pip, and William had decided to stay behind with the trucks.
After managing to escape through the hundreds of villagers-turned soldiers they found what they were looking for, the Field Office. It was surrounded by a twenty foot wall of sand bags, wrapped with silver barbed wire, and topped with silver razor wire. Iron rectangular frames had been fitted into the walls to act as gun slots, and SAWs were mounted at each corner of the roof.
To reach the door, the group had to follow one of the trenches, and push their way through a bunch of panicking people. Even then, the man guarding the door (or rather the large grating that sat in front of the equally large hole) wasn't about to let them in.
" We're here to see Cassandra," Bridgett said
" Piss off, no one's seeing the colonel."
" We're from the Allies, The Manchester-."
" Allies your not our Allies. You shits left us out here to die!"
" You could've come back any time you prick," Jess said.
" Your not coming in asshole, so like I said piss the fuck off!"
" That's it I'm taking the door down," Jess said grabbing the grate.
" No, we don't need any more problems," Bridgett said. " Listen we can help you if you let us-"
" Save it, not interested."
During this back and forth, no one had noticed the shadow slowly solidifying behind the guard. From within the semi-liquid a single gloved hand a appeared and grabbed the man by the throat.
" What a piss ant," Alucard said with a smile. " Should I kill him for you master?"
" No, no killing. Just open the door and take his gun, I don't feel like getting shot in the back," Bridgett replied.
A single kick was all it took for Alucard to dislodge the barrier, and send slamming to the ground in a cloud of dust. He then dropped the man next to the door, and plucked the shotgun from his limp hands.
" And don't call me master, I'm not into that weird S&M shit."
" Damn, the uptight one makes a joke, very nice," Jason replied.
They ignored the cowering man, and pushed past the door to the main building that lay just a few feet beyond the wall's entrance. It was a small one roomed house, though it had not been built that way. Jagged strips in the floor, walls, and ceiling suggested a recent redecoration of the building. Several slats of corkboard were nailed to the walls, covered with dozens of sheets of paper held in place with pushpins. Maps and other random bits of paper were taped onto the walls, as if they'd given up on the corkboard. Several tables were scattered haphazardly around the room covered with spreadsheets, clips, ammo crates, lose rounds, and three computers. Two of the computers were ancient models and one was obviously homemade, partly built from copper and what looked like particleboard. On the side was a large sticker that said Mick. Several metal folding chairs were also scattered around the room, with a dozen or so still folded ones leaning against the wall. Four people stood around a short dumpy looking man, who was nervously typing commands at the Mick computer.
The leader was a woman in her mid-forties. Her black hair was tied back into a pony tail that reached the middle of her back. Her left eye was covered by a large eye patch, her right hazel eye burned with the strength and intelligence of a natural leader. Months, even years later Bridgett would think back to that single eye, and all the strength behind it, she would wonder if she could ever be that strong. She wore a long brown coat over a light grey shirt. She wore a pair of thread jeans, and a pair of old worn cowboy boots. Around her waste was a bandolier with a pair of well oiled revolvers, one at each hip. From the corner of her mouth hung a half burnt cigarette.
Jason dropped onto one of the chairs and put his feet up on the table. " Looks like you have a knack for getting yourself into some serious shit," Jason said.
" Heh, better then being a dog for a faceless government."
" How, you doing Cass?" He asked with a smile.
" How the hell do ya think I'm doing, smart ass. We were attacked three nights ago by Legion soldiers. It was a miracle we held out. They'll be hitten again, and they don't like being shown up, so they'll be throwing a lot more into it this time. So Bridgett, looks like you've got more interesting friends."
" We've got to keep the barracks stocked."
Alucard stepped up next to Bridgett. " I like this one," he said with a smile.
" So what's your story vampire?" Cassandra asked.
" I doubt it's as interesting as yours. One of the last true hunters in this world. A killer of wolves and bats."
" This is all very interesting, but I think we need to talk privately for a second," Jason said.
" Sure, everyone out!" Cassandra yelled.
" The hell with that," Jess said. " I don't take orders from a traitor."
" You take orders from me," Bridgett said. " And we have stuff to do anyway, so come on."
It had been just over two hours since they had started talking, the red noon light filtered through the bared windows. Cassandra's jacket had been left on a nearby chair. The table now held several sticky shot glasses and an almost empty bottle of unlabelled whisky.
" A long way from St. Clive's Hallow huh Jay?"
" Yep, but I don't want to talk about that. Why did you leave after you made that promise to Bridgett."
" Don't do that, you know she didn't need me. Besides now she has you and Jess."
" So what that's it? You saved me so I could take your place? Do you even care about her?"
" I love Bridgett like a daughter, the same way you love her like a sister. But after Joseph and Carl died, and Central fell when those bastards did nothing to stop it, I just couldn't take it. So I went into seclusion."
Jason knew it wasn't like Jane to open up like this to anybody, but she had never seemed to mind doing it around him. He also knew the alcohol played a hand in it.
" That reminds me, I got a letter for you a few days ago."
" Your getting my mail now?" he said with a smile.
" A nomad delivered it. They're moving north too now."
" Nomad, well either Vince is taking chances, or it's Sam." Jane pulled the folded paper out of one of the drawers and handed it to him. " No envelope?"
" Well I had to make sure you kids weren't talking about anything inappropriate."
Jason did a quick read over the faded note, before turning to Jane.
" That's one Wicca that'll never stop running, so she's still out on the fringe. Now that's where you and the rest of you neutral party should be heading to, Legion would never go there."
" These people aren't strong enough to live out there."
Jack looked up at the older desert woman, and his face set into a grim and serious tone. " No instead they're just weak enough to die here.
" Do you really believe you can win this war?"
" Maybe, or maybe we're all just fighting a lost cause, but at least we're fighting."
She rested the toes of her boots on the table's edge, an put her chin in her hand. " So, still striking out with Jess?"
He couldn't help but smile. " Why you interested in this again."
" You were a baby your first time, I guess I made you a whore."
" You can't make a whore, you can only be born as one."
They both burst out laughing. Standing up he walked across the table and stood next to her. She looked up at him as he leaned over putting his mouth against hers. This wasn't love, he knew that before she even said it.
" Don't come looking to me for love. Even the best of us needs to get off every now and again, but don't expect ay hand holding afterwards."
He smiled, " Never do."
The evening wind roared overhead killing the sound of the soldiers' portable generators, and pushing the sand over the remaining patches of asphalt. The buildings on the outskirts that bordered the road had been reduced to little more then stray rock piles. Pip kicked one of the stray bricks across the road. Due to his enhanced body the kick sent the brick flying, and shattering against one of the walls. Pip stood there for a second staring at his arms and legs, before he spotted Seras a few yards away sitting behind one of the trucks.
Seras sat cross legged with what at first he took to be bits of scrap metal. However, he realized that they were actually pieces of her gun. A small opened can of oil was next to her along with a couple of slightly dirty rags. She expertly cleaned and oiled each piece before clicking it into it's proper place. He was amazed at the speed she moved, realizing he had never actually seen her clean a gun before. It was in this moment he realized that they hadn't talked since they'd left the basement of the mansion.
Is she mad at me?, he thought.
As he slowly approached her, her head snapped up with that same eerie speed. She smiled at him, but it wasn't hard to see all the sadness she held behind it. He crouched down next to her, as she continued in her work.
" We haven't talked since I woke up, what's wrong? You mad or something?"
As she finished screwing in the barrel of her now finished rifle, she dropped it. Not caring about the time she had just spent on it, this was more important. Seras threw her arms around him knocking him to the ground, as her red tears began to flow.
" I'm just happy your back," was all she could mange between kisses.
Alucard was leaning against a small building not far from the FO, watching Bridgett and Jess set up some kind of electric gate around the town. He knew it wouldn't work. Vampires could not only clear a fifty foot gate in a single jump, but could tear through an electric fence with a charge of over a million volts.
However he watched the girls as they went about working on the what looked like a large steel computer. Jess went about trying to fix the inside, while Bridgett stabbed at the keys.
" Do you think you should be fooling around inside there, while it's still on?"
" Don't worry it's not like it's going to hurt me," Jess replied. She began turning an unseen instrument into an unseen device. As she did this a wave of spark spewed out over her. Jess ignored the small burns as she finished up. " How's that?" she asked.
Bridgett hit a few more keys, and was reward with a low hum. A blue light encompassed the screen a sharp crack sounded, seemingly from everywhere. As the noise died down blue bars slowly encircled the entire town. Bridgett meanwhile checked over the computer to make sure everything was running at full capacity (up to snuff, as her old teacher would say). Dark letters stood at the top of the screen: UV Laser Fence 100.
" Good," Bridgett said. " The grid's running fine." She smiled over at Alucard, who was still leaning against the wall. This fence's uses UV lasers, and'll light up a vamp in seconds. It's also about as hot hell so it can torch a wolf too."
He gave her one of his trademark Psycho smiles. " Ingenious, now let's see if you can win. Weapons and technology are only as powerful as the soldiers who use them."